Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a stowable vehicle seat and, more particularly, to a stowable vehicle seat having an erroneous operation preventive mechanism for performing stowing/restoring operation with certainty.
Conventionally, there has been known a stowable vehicle seat in which—in the state in which the rear end part of a seat cushion constituting a vehicle seat is supported to be rotatable in the front and rear direction on the front side of a stowage recess (storage recess) in vehicle body floor, and a seat back is folded over the seat cushion—the vehicle seat can be rotated to the rear and stowed in the stowage recess.
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-82698 (“the '698 Publication”), rotating shafts are provided in both right and left side edge parts in the front part of the stowage recess and brackets are provided in right and left parts of the rear end part of the seat cushion, and the brackets are disposed to be rotatable in the front and rear direction with respect to the turning shafts, whereby the seat can be stowed in the stowage recess by supporting the rear end part of the seat cushion to be rotatable in the front and rear direction.
In the above-described technique, the operating element for a reclining mechanism (reclining lock) and a leg locking releasing mechanism (striker lock) operated when the stowable vehicle seat is stowed (stored) and restored is separated for each mechanism. As the operating element for the reclining mechanism and the leg locking releasing mechanism, a pulling strap (strap) and a lever are used. These operating element are provided on the back surface side of the seat that lies beyond the passenger's reach in the seated state to prevent erroneous operation performed by a child or the like.
Also, of the two operating element operated when the stowable vehicle seat is stowed and restored, the operating element for the reclining mechanism sometimes uses the strap. The strap is extended from the back surface of the seat, and releases the locking of the reclining mechanism by being pulled.
The locking releasing operation of the reclining mechanism using the strap is performed by pulling the strap to the rear side of the seat from the cargo room side by an operator. Since the strap is usually mounted on the seat back surface side as described above, there is no fear of erroneous operation.
However, the mechanism is configured so that the locking of the reclining mechanism is released likewise by pulling the strap upward or downward. Therefore, in the case where, for example, a child or the like performs strap operation by putting out his/her hand in the state of being seated with his/her back turned, the locking of the reclining mechanism may be released.
Further, even for a seat in which the operating element separated for each function of the reclining locking releasing mechanism and the leg locking releasing mechanism are integrated into one operating element, the strap is sometimes used. In this case as well, the same problem as that with the above-described technique occurs.